Play Better Golf…Use Your Natural Swing

by Joel Segal

Now, the first thing you’re going to say is, “What are you talking about…I always use my normal swing when I play golf!” Notice, you said your “normal” swing NOT your “natural” swing!

Let me illustrate the difference with a brief golf story.

You’re playing a round of golf with your regular group of friends and you come to a par 4 hole with a nice, big lake situated between the tee and the fairway. You need to hit a tee shot that will carry at least 175 yards to clear the lake and land safely in the fairway beyond. Not a problem…your normal tee shot carries at least 195 yards—that’s 20 yards to spare!!

You tee up a nearly new ball (hey, you’re not so confident that you’ll risk a brand new ball!) so you can maximize your distance. You take your stance and address the ball. Your mouth feels strangely dry. Your grip seems to tighten more than normal as you start your backswing. Your swing speed feels different…perhaps, I’d say, a little too fast!! You continue on. You quickly are into the downswing (you feel like you should be still on the backswing!). Your clubhead makes contact with the ball. You instantly feel that it wasn’t a solid hit but you know you have a 20 yard cushion! As you follow through, you watch the ball travel in the air like a “wounded duck.” You start to get an empty feeling in the pit of your stomach as you watch your ball travel only 165 yards in the air landing with a crisp splash in the calm, beautiful lake.

The story continues…Your chances for a good score on this hole are gone (under the water with your first ball!). So, with all pressure and tension gone from your body (and mind), you tee up an “old” practice ball and casually swing the clubhead of your new titanium driver in the general direction of your golf ball. You feel like you’re swinging in slow motion. You finally make contact with the ball. It feels real solid but you’d bet you didn’t hit it hard enough (remember, it’s an old ball!) to travel 150 yards in the air. As you casually look up, you see your ball flying 200 plus yards in the air (well over that big lake) and landing safely in the middle of the fairway!!

Now, has an incident similar to this ever happened to you? Off course it has. It happens to golfers all of the time!! More importantly, if you can relate to this story, there’s a major lesson to be learned that will dramatically improve your golf game from this day forward!!

Let’s analyze what happened in this little golf story. What you experienced on your second tee shot (the one with the old practice ball that carried over 200 yards in the air) was your totally natural, subconscious swing controlling your golf shot!

Now, I know you’re going to say: All that happened was that you mishit your first tee shot (bad luck, huh) and you got “lucky” on your second tee shot.

Don’t sell yourself short…it’s not that simple!! There’s a major lesson for you here. A lesson that will take your golf game (swing) to a new level!!

Here it is in a nutshell: You (every golfer) have TWO golf swings!! Your best swing is the one you swing when you’re totally relaxed and at ease with yourself. Your grip is loose. Tension is gone from your arms, shoulders and legs. You swing WITHOUT thinking about each part of your swing. You swing INSTINCTIVELY! It’s the way you swing on your practice swing (before you’re even hit a ball) when you’re warming up on the practice range. By the way, that’s why the pros seem to be swinging so smooth and easy yet hit the ball so far!

Hey, I bet you’ve almost forgot about your “other” swing. You remember, the one that hit your ball 165 yards into the big, pretty lake. Let’s do each other a favor: let’s forget about that “other” swing!

Hopefully, I’ve got you excited about trying to use your subconscious, NATURAL swing on a regular basis. In my next article, I’m going to give you some specific drills to help you maximize your new (actually, it was there all the time!) natural and relaxed better swing.